Primary Target
by CazzBlade
Summary: Accidents seem to be following Sheppard around. Set S3.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: SGA is not mine :(

Notes: I started this fic a long time ago but got distracted by another, so its not finished. If people like it and want be to finish it I will, if not I'll move on to another :)

**Primary Target**

Chapter 1

"Wraith!" Major Lorne shouted out in warning when a dart flew over his head. He took one last look over his shoulder to make sure his team had noticed the danger before making a beeline for the gate.

"Everyone fall back to the gate and get a move on, that means you Davies." He ground out through his teeth.

Sergeant Davies rolled his eyes at his CO, _you trip into one ancient device that could have blown up the whole planet and he never lets it go._ Davies clipped his P90 back to his jacket and took off after his teammates.

Several more darts whizzed overhead, clipping the trees that lined the path to the Stargate. Out of the corner of his eye Davies noticed a small group of Wraith approaching their location. "We've got Wraith on our tail Sir, six of them 30m to the left of the gate."

"Received Sergeant, don't engage lets just get out of here." Lorne replied with his usual calmness that never seemed to get dented. He finally reached the gate and quickly swivelled, kneeling down to cover his team on their approach. He saw Wilson with Barker close behind, giving them a wink as they ran past him into the puddle. But Davies was nowhere in sight. _Where are you Sergeant? _Lorne reached up to his COM just as Davies came bursting out from behind the trees. Relief washed over Lorne as he followed the young marine through the gate.

………………

Dr Weir awaited Lorne on the other side of the event horizon, her hands clasped together behind her back and a tight smile on her face. "Major, Lieutenant Wilson says you ran into a bit of trouble."

Lorne continued towards the doctor with a cheeky grin encroaching on his lips as though this sort of thing happened everyday, which in the Pegasus Galaxy it usually did. "Not really maam, we were already on our way to the gate when the Wraith arrived, just had to speed up our withdrawal." Dr Weir raised her eyebrows, "Hmm." Not completely convinced by his casual report. "Beckett's waiting for you in the infirmary, I'll see you at 08:00 for a full debrief." Lorne started off in the direction of the infirmary as Weir turned to make her way back up the stairs. "Looking forward to it Maam."

He spotted Sergeant Davies further up the corridor and jogged to catch him. "What happened to you back there Sergeant?" Lorne asked taking Davies by surprise. His shoulders stiffened and the slight limp he'd been walking with a moment earlier was suddenly gone.

"Oh, nothing Sir," he stammered in answer to his team leader "I just took cover behind a tree when one of the Wraith came a bit too close." He lowered his eyes back to the fascinating floor in front of his feet. He felt a sudden slap on his back jerking him forward. "Huh, fair enough, you did good kid… on the whole mission." Lorne praised the new arrival to Atlantis.

Davies, his head now lifted and beaming with pride, was about to respond when Lorne held up his hand to prevent the kid, and shouted, "Colonel Sheppard." He picked up his pace to catch Atlantis' military commander before disappearing around the corner. Davies' gaze followed the two men until they were out of sight.

………………

John turned when he heard his 2IC shout but carried on in the same direction. "What can I help you with Major?" John drawled with a laid back ease. "Make it quick cos I'm on my way to spar with Ronon." John, thinking better on it continued "actually take as much time as you want, probably save me an ass whooping." Lorne smirked back at his CO knowing all to well what he meant.

"Won't take a second Sir," Lorne replied seeing Sheppard's head drop to the sticks he twirled in his hands. "It's just Davies, I think he might work out after all." Sheppard's head snapped back up, "Really" He responded a little sceptically. "Well its up to you major, do what you thinks best." Lorne smiled; he was lucky to have a CO that had that much trust in him.

"I'd better get back to the infirmary Sir, or I'll have to face the wrath of Beckett." John's eyes widened and eyebrows rose, all to knowingly. Lorne stopped to turn back the way they'd come.

"You sure that's all you wanted Major?" Sheppard said pleading with his eyes. "Yes Sir." Lorne replied heading back down the corridor. John continued on his way to the gym, confined to his fate.

………………

John had faith in the young major, hell if Weir hadn't have had faith in him as a major he wouldn't be where he was now, literally and figuratively. Lorne was a good soldier, he'd proved himself on numerous occasions and had the guts to stand up for himself which, for John at least, was a positive personality trait in any officer. Maybe that's why he'd always had problems with own CO's.

He never intentionally set out to go against any orders but there was just something inside him that wouldn't let it lye when he saw the situation a little differently, especially when it came to leaving someone behind.

That was one of the reasons he liked and respected his team so much, they knew the right moments, when to take his orders without question and when to use their own initiative.

John reached the sparring room to find Ronon already stick fighting with Teyla. "Well, I see you started without me."

Ronon swung his single stick two-handed in a loop towards the crown of Teyla's head; she blocked it swiftly with a stick of her own. Using her spare right hand and she swung her second stick low aiming for Ronon's midriff, missing by mere centimetres as Ronon jumped back out of the way.

"You were late." Ronon stated matter of factly.

"I am?!" John replied in mock surprise.

Teyla gracefully swivelled low with one foot outstretched, Ronon caught the movement at the last second jumping his knees towards his chest. In a flash Teyla was back upright swinging her sticks rapidly at Ronon, which he barely managed to block.

Teyla paused looking over at John. "No you continue, don't mind me, I'll just take a seat." John said as he relaxed into the window seat, he could actually do with a bit of a rest.

Teyla bowed her head towards Ronan at the conclusion of their fight. "I must get ready for dinner." She said. John clumsily stood up from his seat. "You have a date?" He asked trying to keep his voice to general curiosity. "No," She stated looking John in the eyes, "I have a binding ceremony to witness on the mainland."

"Oh" John said, failing miserably to keep the twinkle out of his eyes. "Well I hope you have a good time, sorry I won't be there myself." Teyla gathered her sticks and began walking towards the exit "Goodbye John" She turned to look at him one last time with one eyebrow raised.

John watched the doors slide shut behind the Athosian before turning to face his opponent.

"You ready?" Ronon enquired, already prowling around John.

"Sure" John replied calmly, commencing his own prowl to mirror his sparring partner.

Ronon lashed out with his stick that John easily blocked before the patient prowling began again.

"Where we going tomorrow?" Ronon asked while keeping his concentration firmly on John.

"Nowhere," John turned bringing one stick over straight after the other, but Ronon sidestepped the attack. "Beckett says we have to have a day off so that McKay's hand can recover."

"It was only a splinter." Ronon said huskily.

"You know that, I know that, even the Doc knows that. I think he's using it as an excuse to make us take time off."

"Huh." Ronon grunted.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly." John said as he shielded another blow, or at least attempted too.

John, less graceful than Teyla but using a similar style barraged Ronon with rapid fire swinging of his sticks. One caught Ronon on the top of his shoulder bringing a rush of pride to the Colonel. Ronon used John's momentary pause of triumph to his advantage. Quickly forgetting about the pain in his shoulder he swung his stick low, colliding with John's waist, then brought his leg around taking Johns feet from beneath him.

"Ah…oww" John growled as his back impacted on the mat. Ronon reached out his hand to help Sheppard up. John was about to gratefully accept when he noticed the grin on his friends face. _Point taken._ He gave in and pushed himself up, off the floor.

"_Colonel Sheppard" _The voice of Dr Radek Zalenka came over John's comm. John reached up his hand to halt Ronon before tapping his earpiece.

"Yes Radek" he panted.

The scientist paused before replying._ "Rodney requests your assistance in lab."_

"Oh, he does he, and why couldn't he have asked me this himself." John enquired clearly showing his annoyance at McKay's behaviour, but why he was surprised he wasn't sure.

Quickly the high pitched voice of an irritated Dr Rodney McKay joined the conversation _"Because Colonel I have better things to be doing with my owe so precious time than persuading you to get your skinny butt down here to play guinea pig."_

"I never said I wasn't coming, Rodney." John responded, over pronouncing the last two syllables.

"_Oh…just get here quickly. I don't want to stand around waiting for you."_ Rodney snapped.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." John drawled, quickly switching off his earpiece before McKay could elicit any sort of response.

John reached for his bag. "Sorry big guy, the genius is calling."

………………

John and Ronon were making their way down the corridor to the transporter and Ronon's quarters. Walking in a comfortable silence John was taken aback when Ronon's hand pressed against his chest. He knew Ronon had little concept of personal space but this was taking it a bit far.

A beam crashed to the floor directly where the Colonel's next step would have taken him. John flinched partly due to shock and partly in pain as he looked down to see his foot squashed beneath the edge of the fallen beam. Great, another trip to the infirmary, Carsen might as well set aside a bed personally for him, if he hadn't done already that is.

He grimaced at the pressure the beam was inserting on his foot, glad that he had his trainers on or it could've been a lot worse.

"Close one" Ronon stated with no emotion present in his voice.

"Slightly too close…oww…help me lift this thing off" he said while bending at the knees. With their combined strength they managed to raise the bean enough for John to ease his foot out.

But before John could enjoy the release of pain that washed over his foot he was interrupted. _"Are you gonna make it here in my lifetime Colonel?" _McKay's unwelcome voice came into John's ear.

"Well I would McKay, but you'd have to explain to Carsen why I didn't go straight to the infirmary after having a beam crush my foot." John replied through clenched teeth.

"_What?!"_ McKay responded bewildered.

"A beam fell and landed on Sheppard's foot." Ronon answered seeing the annoyance grow on John's face.

"_Well, thanks for clearing that up…" _Rodney sniped back,_ "I'll see you in the infirmary."_

"Why?" asked Sheppard still sat on the floor.

"_So you can light up my new gizmo's." _McKay said as though it should have been obvious.

"Oh, gee thanks Rodney, and here I was thinking you were concerned about my well being." John moaned out as Ronon helped him to his feet.

"_Your fine aren't you?"_ Rodney asked, rhetorically if anything.

"See you McKay." Ronon quickly butted in sensing an argument growing.

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

As Dr Carson Beckett walked through the unusually empty infirmary, basking in the peace, he picked up a medical journal to finally catch up on the progress of the 'real world'. He knew he was the luckiest physician in the world to have a job such as this but at times he still missed the trivial activities of life on earth. As he turned the first page he heard the doors whoosh open and who should he be confronted by as he walked towards the noise but a certain Lieutenant Colonel of the United States Air force being helped along by Ronon. _I should have known._

"What have you done to yeself this time Colonel?" Carson asked.

Sheppard gave the doctor an unappreciative glance as he gently settled onto one of the beds. "It's not always my fault doc."

"Aye, but most of the time it is." The doctor said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Not this time." Carson looked over at the man who made the statement. Ronon Dex was a man of few words, only saying what was necessary; this was how Carson knew it was the truth.

"Fair enough." Carson said returning his concentration to the fallen Colonel.

"One of the beams fell," John grimaced as Carson removed the boot off of his injured limb "onto my foot."

"A beam fell?" Carson asked looking over at Ronon to receive a curt nod in confirmation. "How the hell did that happen?"

"I don't know, how do most things happen around here." The Colonel made a good point but this seemed too…normal…for Atlantis.

After removing the Colonel's sock he began to inspect the foot. He heard another whoosh behind him but didn't need to look to know who it was…

"Are you not done yet?" Rodney asked in that patronising way only he could muster.

"No he's not and I'm not having you getting in the way." Beckett scolded as Sheppard gave McKay a smug smile.

"But I need him to finish my work." Rodney protested, the pitch of his voice getting higher and higher.

Carson sighed "Rodney he's going for an X-ray so unless you want an unnecessary dose of radiation he's unavailable." Leaving no doubts as to who was in charge.

Ronon helped Sheppard into a wheelchair before wheeling him off down the hall. "See you later Rodney." John said giving the scientist, who was still standing there dumbfounded, a small wave.

Rodney reluctantly left the infirmary when something hit his oversized brain, "Your using ancient scanners, there is no radiation." He smugly shouted to the now empty room.

………………

"_Colonel Sheppard to the Control Room."_ Carson heard the request over Atlantis' public address system.

"Elizabeth," Carson said calmly after tapping his comm.

"_Yes Carson." _Elizabeth replied sounding slightly surprised.

"I'm afraid the Colonel won't be joining you anytime soon, he's having some scans taken."

"_What's happened Carson?" _Concern evident in her voice.

………………

Ronon helped John settle back on the bed while Carson inspected the results.

"What's the damage doc?" John asked casually.

"Not too bad actually." Carson replied, surprised himself knowing the Colonel's luck. But before he could impart his bit of good news he was interrupted by Elizabeth entering infirmary with Teyla hot on her heels.

"Carson, how's the patient doing?" Elizabeth asked while John and Teyla shared nods in greeting.

"Well, like I was just about to say, he's got a small hairline fracture of the third metatarsal, other than that just some severe bruising. I'm afraid ya foot'll be black and blue for a good while yet Colonel."

"So I can go?" John asked innocently. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, _nice try John._

"No, you bloody cannot." John nodded to himself knowing it was a bit of a long shot, but he had to try right? "I'm gonna have to bandage up that foot and test the pressure you can put on it."

Elizabeth clasped her hands behind her back "I'll come back in a bit then, see how long you'll be suspended from going off-world." She smiled warmly and began to turn towards the exit.

Teyla leaned closer to John "I'm glad you are ok John." She stated simply.

She began to follow Dr Weir out but both women were stalled when John called after them.

"Now that's what I call a bedside manner, you should get some tips Elizabeth." John said playfully to the two leaders.

"See ya later buddy." Ronon stated punching Sheppard lightly on the shoulder before joining his colleagues in leaving the infirmary.

Carson made light work of the bandaging; well he is the best doctor in two galaxies.

………………

Elizabeth was reading through some mission reports in her office when Carson interrupted her concentration. _"You can come and see him now, love." _

"Thank you Carson, I'll be down in a minute." She said getting up from her desk. As she was leaving her office Radek flanked her.

"Er…Where are you going, I…er…needed to talk to you about bio hazard contamination procedure." He asked looking put out but obviously nervous.

Elizabeth laughed to herself, was she supposed to know what that was? "Oh, the usual cause of my troubles Radek." She said as she continued on her way, "Colonel Sheppard is in the infirmary." She shouldn't complain really, he did warn her.

"Right, Okay." Radek accepted knowing better than to argue when the Colonel was concerned.

She made her way down to the infirmary, chuckling to herself when she saw John practising on one crutch.

"Ah, Elizabeth, there you are." Carson exclaimed, noticing her entrance.

"Hey Elizabeth." John greeted, looking like he was enjoying himself way more than he should.

"As you can see he seems to have gotten the hang of it," looking over at John unamused. "He'll be fine for light duties around Atlantis and I'd say about seven days before he can go off-world again.

As long as he's a good little Colonel and sticks to his physical therapy regime."

………………

"Where are you going Colonel?" Carson asked sternly when he spotted John sneaking out of the infirmary.

"You cleared me for light duty." John replied without turning around, he didn't want to see the glare he could feel burning into his back.

"Ye didn't answer my question Colonel… I know you, it had better be _light_ duty!"

John thought he'd better tell the doc straight or he'd never be let out of here. "Its just an induction meeting with the new recruits from the Daedalus. Don't worry Ronan's coming, he can do the menacing thing seeing as I couldn't scare McKay right now... well…" John squinted, reconsidering his last statement.

Carson smiled "Just don't do anything to strenuous."

"I'll be fine doc." John drawled as he left.

………………

"Sergeant Davies." John greeted the young soldier.

"They're ready for you sir."

"Good, Ronan here yet?" He saw the Sergeant flinch at the mention of the Satedan.

"Yes sir, he's waiting inside." Davies leaned in closer to his CO "Does he ever say anything sir, or just glare?"

John chuckled at Ronon's talent to intimidate even the most highly trained marines. "Mostly he just glares." He whispered before opening the door and entering the room. Davies followed him and joined some of the other marines who arrived with the previous tour on Atlantis.

John nodded towards Ronon whose expression didn't change but John didn't miss the sparkle in his eyes.

"Attention." Lieutenant Thompson shouted out.

John waved his hand nonchalantly.

Thompson smiled at the Colonel when the new recruits stayed stood to attention. "For those of you who are new, that's the Colonel's way of saying 'at ease'."

The recruits visibly relaxed and sat down.

John remained standing even though he probably should have sat down to take the weight off of his foot, but he wanted to maintain some sense of authority.

"Recruits, welcome to Atlantis. I'm Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, if you didn't already know." A few of the recruits smiled sheepishly, how could anyone not know, this was the post of a lifetime and Colonel Sheppard's heroics were already famous to the people in the know on earth.

"I'm gonna keep this short and sweet cos I'm sure your eager to get a proper look round this place and settled into your quarters." Nothing to do with the fact that he was exhausted himself.

"You'll be assigned in groups to one of these lovely gentlemen," casually gesturing toward the slightly more experienced marines at his side "they'll answer any specific questions you have before introducing you to your new teams and any other important people." The recruits smiled nervously. "Speaking of important people, the most important person around here is Dr Weir, keep her happy and you'll go a long way. Dr McKay," Sheppard paused "I wouldn't worry about keeping him happy, trust me nothing can." He said jokingly.

The marines laughed before Lieutenant Thompson asked, "How do you put up with him sir?"

"Well, I have been told by some people" looking over at Ronon "that I'm just as stubborn and annoying as he is." He hoped that wasn't completely true, at least the annoying bit anyway.

"Never, Sir." Thompson replied hiding his smirk.

"No seriously, if he ever asks you to do something, do it, cos he'll probably save your life."

"Like when he asked you to activate the ancient devices yesterday." Ronon smirked.

"Yes Ronon, thank you, just like that." He narrowed his eyes at the Satedan.

John carried on with the induction, trying to keep it light and casual. These marines had enough scary monsters to deal with on a daily basis; they didn't need one as a CO too.

"So any questions?" John asked half hoping there wouldn't be.

One of the recruits, growing in confidence, tentatively asked, "What happened to your foot sir?"

John looked down at his crutch and smiled, "Oh you know, one on one, hand to hand combat with a Wraith, you should have seen me a week ago. Looked better than him though." Hey, he had a legend to keep up.

The recruits looked back in awe while the other marines tried to keep a straight face, none of them wanted to be the one to give the game away. No such luck from Ronon though, "A beam fell on it."

John started to hobble towards the door, patting Ronon on the shoulder along the way, "Thanks for shattering the illusion big guy."

"Pleasure." Ronon said as he stood to follow John out.

Sergeant Davies opened the door for the Colonel to exit.

John entered the hallway heading straight for his quarters to get a long over due, good nights sleep.

………………

As John exited his quarters the next morning he saw the petit form of Teyla coming around the corner.

"John! I was just coming to see how you were doing." Teyla exclaimed, obviously overjoyed to see Sheppard up and about.

John stopped and leaned on his crutch, "Well as you can see, I'm doing much better…ooh we had a sparring session didn't we?"

Teyla turned to join John in slowly making his way down the corridor. "Yes we did, perhaps you would like to do something else instead." She had been looking forward to a workout and could have easily asked Ronon to take John's place but spending time with John seemed more important at the moment.

"Sure." John said pleased that Teyla wanted to keep him company.

"Dr Weir told me you had been teaching Rodney how to meditate, we could compare techniques. I would be fascinated to learn the teachings of the ancients." Teyla looked at John deep into his eyes.

John really didn't want to disappoint Teyla but he also didn't want to embarrass himself by letting on how little attention he'd paid while in the time dilation field. "You know…Teyla, I'm really not that good…" Rodney interrupted him mid-sentence on his comm. _"Colonel, are you ever going to make it down here, I still have ancient toys waiting for your magic touch."_

John looked over at Teyla, torn how to respond. "It's alright John," she smiled warmly "I wouldn't want you upsetting Rodney on my behalf."

John nodded his head knowing that this choice would cause him less grief. Teyla was just turning to leave when John stopped her. "Hey, how 'bout I cook dinner tomorrow to make up?" He flashed his most charming smile.

She smiled back touched by his offer. "That would be lovely John but maybe I should cook."

John chuckled. "Even better, bye Teyla."

………………

"Ah, there you are." Rodney said, still absorbed in whatever gibberish was on his laptop.

"Rodney" John drawled in greeting.

Rodney turned to give John a fleeting glance but he did a double take on seeing the crutch. "What good is one crutch," he turned back to his laptop "Where's the fun in that?"

John picked up his crutch and lightly slapped Rodney's protruding behind with it.

"Hey!" Rodney screeched.

John smiled cheekily.

"Oh, very funny Colonel. Now if you've done behaving like a child, the devices are over there." He pointed towards a table at the other side of the lab.

John sighed but made his way like a good little guinea pig. He gazed over the myriad of devices lying haphazardly on the table, trying to find the one that looked the least like a torture device. John reached over towards a small sphere but before he got there…"Not that one Colonel, I already know what that does, it just needs activating. Whereas this one" he gestured towards a large cube with asymmetric shapes indented into it "I think it might be some sort of weapon."

John looked at him sceptically. "Oh come on, you usually light up like a kid at Christmas with the mention of weapons." Rodney dismissed John's look and went to set up his monitoring equipment back by his laptop.

"OK, we're ready to go, light it up." Not giving the Colonel the chance to moan.

"Urh" John tentatively picked up the object, relief washing over him when nothing happened.

"Huh, maybe it's out of power." Rodney shrugged.

John was just about to put the cube back down when the shapes began to light up. "Rodney!"

A bright flash of light cut off Rodney's response before he was flung back onto the floor when a blast wave emanated from the cube.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Sheppard?" Rodney called out as he came back to his senses and got up onto his feet. _Answer me you idiot!_

………………………

"Mmm" John groaned from the corner of the room. His head was throbbing against the cold, hard surface of the lab's wall. He squeezed his eyes open and moaned again at the influx of pain the light caused.

John's back felt like it had a rod attached to it to keep it straight. He was wary of moving it in case it would snap.

"Are you OK?" Rodney asked innocently.

"No Rodney," he winced, "I was just flung back against a wall!" He let his frustration out on Rodney but calmed when he saw the genuine concern in his friend's eyes. "I'm fine Rodney." He willed his body to move and cringed as his back cracked but thankfully remained intact. He got up without the use of his crutch just to prove to Rodney, and himself, that he'd told the truth. He swayed but managed to steady himself with a hand on the wall.

"Ow" John involuntarily croaked out as he stretched his back.

"We'll let Carsen be the judge of that…oh god he's gonna kill me, you've only just been discharged." Rodney fretted.

John glared back at Rodney, _I know that Rodney._ "It's not your fault Rodney but just so you know, I'm retiring from lighting things up… on purpose anyway."

…………………………

"Colonel, your check up's not for a few hours." Carsen said surprised to find John in the infirmary unnecessarily.

"Oh you know me doc, there are some benefits to the infirmary." John drawled as he watched one of the nurses go by.

"Hgh" Carsen grunted noticing the strained expression on Rodney's face. "What did you do Rodney?" The Chief Medical Officer asked sternly.

"What… why do you assume its something I did?" Rodney asked flabbergasted.

"Ohh because if he hasn't done it to himself, which he usually tries to hide from me, then its more often than not got something to do with you." Carsen said, hitting the nail on the head so to speak.

"Well it kinda is anyway." Rodney stated looking guilty.

"No, its not." John countered. "The device did it, there's nothing wrong with me anyway. I'm only here cos Rodney was scared you'd blame him if you found out." Rodney scowled back at Sheppard.

Carsen looked between the two friends fascinated at how easy it was for them to flip between comforting and sniping. "Good, and so he should be. Take a seat Colonel. What actually happened?" Carsen asked patting the bed.

John gently eased onto the bed. "Stupid device sent out a pulse like thing, knocking me back against the wall."

"He hit his head." Rodney put his two cents in ignoring the scathing look from Sheppard.

"I can see that." Carsen said inspecting a small bump on the back of John's head. "Was the device supposed to do that?"

"Yeah, did it to me earlier, but I thought, hey, Sheppard hasn't seen Carsen for a while, I'll let him have a go." Rodney snapped back.

"There's no need for sarcasm laddie." Carsen replied calmly.

"Was a bit of a stupid question doc." Sheppard joined in.

"Oh don't you start." Carsen said to the Colonel, oblivious to the smug scientist stood behind him.

Carsen noticed a sag in John's posture at his right shoulder. "Could you take off your T-shirt for me Colonel?" John did as he was told but winced at lifting his right arm so high.

"Dr Beckett, can I help with anything?" A young, female nurse asked appearing out of nowhere.

"No thanks love." Carsen replied concentrating on his patient. The nurse left looking disappointed.

John winced again as Carsen tested the manoeuvrability of his arm. "Right, looks like you've got a bump to the head, luckily no concussion, and a jarred shoulder, I'll give you some pain meds but you should be all right."

"He's never all right, there's always some injury or another." Carsen glared at Rodney for daring to ruin his good news.

"_I'm_ not the hypochondriac McKay!" John shot back.

Quickly forgetting the exchange John asked "Am I still good for light duties?"

"Aye, but I mean _light_ duties Colonel, no more touching unknown alien devices." Giving his caring doctor speech, which with Carsen you knew that he meant it.

"Don't worry doc," John said as he got off the bed and reached for his crutch "I've retired."

………………

John hobbled up to Elizabeth's desk. "John, shouldn't you be resting, Carsen told me what happened." Elizabeth asked partly scolding Sheppard for getting injured again.

"I have been." John said as if butter wouldn't melt.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow unconvinced. "What can I do for you?" She asked letting it go.

"You wanted to go over a report." John stated.

"Oh, of course, I completely forgot." John nodded knowing the strain Elizabeth was under on a daily basis, it was amazing she didn't forget things more often. He knew he would. "There's no hurry for that, it was only the reports from Lorne's latest mission, they had a run in with the Wraith near the gate."

"Yeah" John stalled trying to recall what happened, he'd had a lot to deal with since then.

"There was a couple of inconsistencies but it can wait." She offered.

"Elizabeth" John drawled, "Does it look like I have much else to?" He was prepared to beg if necessarily, hating the feeling that he was useless.

Elizabeth sensed John's need, "Right" she smiled, reaching for the reports "If you don't mind reading over them yourself, I've got to go see Zelenka in the labs, he's been trying to catch me all week." She said as she stood to leave, whomever she decided to work with she would be left with a twinge of guilt for the other but she felt that John would be fine as long as he had something to occupy his time.

"Sure." John replied taking the files off of Elizabeth, already intrigued at the prospect. He carried the papers in the crux of his left arm, his right didn't feel too bad, just a bit sore but he didn't want to make things worse by over straining it.

"Aren't you supposed to be having dinner with Teyla?" Elizabeth enquired as they left her office nearly bumping into Sergeant Davies.

"Not for a few hours."

………………

John awoke with a start. He quickly recognised his quarters but was surprised to find himself in BDU's and with a bunch of reports on his lap. _Oh Great. _His head still throbbing and the inevitable tiredness to deal with. At least Carsen would be pleased that he'd gotten some rest. On the other hand he'd got the rest of the reports to read through at another time.

After finally regaining all of his senses he glanced at his watch to check how long he'd been out of it.

"Teyla!"

It dawned on him that there was only ten minutes until he was supposed to be at Teyla's quarters for their meal. He jumped off the bed and began rummaging through his wardrobe for something suitable to wear. Deciding on a pair of jeans and a navy blue shirt that he folded up to his elbows.

He picked up the single yellow daisy that he'd persuaded Katie Brown to let him have so that he could give Teyla something as a thank you for the evening.

The door to his quarters whooshed open when he thought them to. Gotta love that right? Running his left hand through his hair as he made the short distance down the corridor, abandoning his crutch.

………………

Teyla was just lighting the single candle on the table that she'd set up for her meal with John, when the door beeped. She crossed the room and waved her hand over the ancient crystals to activate the door. On the other side was a beaming and devilishly handsome Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard.

She gracefully stepped to one side giving him room to enter. "John, come in." She said warmly.

"Why thank you Teyla." He replied as he made his way in.

"This," he held out the flower "is for you."

Teyla was taken aback that he'd thought to bring something for her, especially something so beautiful, even if she wasn't quite sure what it was. But then again John was quite the gentleman.

"It's a daisy." John clarified, clearly becoming a little nervous that he'd gone over the top. She was just a friend after all.

"Well it's lovely John." She put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a peck on the cheek, making him blush, "Thank you."

"Would you like something to drink?" She asked while putting the daisy in some water.

"Yeah, that'd be great."

"I believe this is similar to your red wine." Teyla explained as she poured the rich red liquid into two glasses.

"Cool." John swirled the glass under his nose before taking a large sip and choked out, "A bit stronger though!"

Teyla laughed as John's breathing returned to normal. "My aunt used to drink a cup everyday with her breakfast."

"Wow, bet she was an interesting woman." John exclaimed as he sat down at the table.

"Oh you would have liked her… She would have hated Rodney."

"Ha" John chuckled.

………………

John enjoyed the main course that Teyla had made from traditional Athosian ingredients, but what he really enjoyed was getting to know Teyla. He knew her personality inside out but they didn't often get the chance to talk at length about their previous lives. For John this wasn't such a bad thing, he was always careful not to reveal too much about himself but he knew Teyla was very proud of her heritage and her people.

"Halling's cousin Melina had stolen the fruit meant for the ambassador and fed it to her pet latooch!" Teyla Laughed.

"Uh, bet he wasn't too happy bout that." John replied, completely absorbed in Teyla's story.

"Oh, not at all, Melina was only ten at the time and carried her latooch everywhere, the ambassador thought they were both adorable."

"So he signed the treaty?" John asked.

"Yes, and we had a celebratory feast that lasted 3 days." Teyla continued as she cleared away their plates.

John quickly jumped up to help her. "We should do that here, you know, next time we go on a mission and no-one comes back injured or traumatised, we should have a 3 day feast" he paused "Rodney and Ronon would be up for it."

"Yes they would, but it will never happen." Teyla said matter of factly.

"What? Why?" John exclaimed, "Elizabeth wouldn't mind and we're not short on food anymore."

"It is not that," Teyla replied now unable to hide the mischievous glint in her eyes, "You are incapable of keeping yourself out of trouble!"

"Hey!" John responded surprised at how high his voice came out "s'not always my fault." He pouted.

Teyla laughed and couldn't continue teasing him anymore, although she did love that cute expression now embodying his face.

She shooed him over to the table "Please take your seat, I have a surprise for you."

"Really" John raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, now sit or you will not get it."

"Yessir" John said eagerly as he sat back down.

Teyla brought out a steaming hot bowl accompanied by a jug of custard.

"That's not!" John exclaimed, the excitement getting too much for him.

"I believe you call it apple crumble." Teyla said as she brought out her own bowl "I hope it is as delicious as everyone says it is."

"Oh, it is don't worry about that, but how did you know?" John asked intrigued.

"I overheard you and Rodney arguing over puddings you liked as a child so I asked Elizabeth how to make it."

John, satisfied with her answer, delved into the traditional dessert. "Ohhh, this is good, just like how my Nan used to make it. You sure you've never made this before?" He knew Teyla wasn't known for her culinary skills.

"No I have not but I will be making it again. You have very good taste." Teyla said while eating her own portion.

John savoured every last mouthful and it wasn't until he'd devoured the whole bowl that he realised how tired he was.

………………

Dr Weir was making her way towards McKay's lab when she got a call on her comm. from the irate scientist; "I thought you were coming here?" Rodney asked accusingly.

"I am Rodney!" Elizabeth replied as she nodded towards a couple of techs.

"It's been 15 minutes and your still not here."

"That's because, Rodney, I was in a meeting when you called. There are other people on this base you know." Elizabeth said, sometimes she couldn't believe how single minded the astrophysicist could be.

"None as important." Rodney snapped under his breath.

He must have found something really interesting if he was being this obnoxious.

"I'm here now." Elizabeth stated calmly as she entered the blustering lab.

"Good" Rodney said oblivious to anything other than his work, "Take a look at these readings."

She stared at them for a few minutes before saying, "What am I looking for?"

Rodney rolled his eyes, why did he always have to spell everything out. "It's an energy spike." Rodney said as though it should be obvious.

"And…" Elizabeth said still a bit dumbfounded as to why this was so important.

"Its on MX25011, I told you that planet was worth visiting!"

"You mean the planet that banished you from ever returning and ran you out through the Stargate." Elizabeth asked incredulously.

"Yes" Rodney answered a little sheepishly.

Elizabeth was sure Rodney was more to blame for their banishment than what came out of the debriefing.

"Rodney, they are not going to welcome you back with open arms, they threatened to sacrifice you to the ancestors!"

"That's why we go back in a cloaked jumper." Rodney said as thought that was the answer to everything.

"Rodney!" Elizabeth said starting to loose her patience.

"They were obviously hiding something…There could be a ZPM!" And there it was, the one thing that Rodney could say to get almost any mission green lighted.

"OK, clear it with Colonel Sheppard first, if he doesn't think its viable then we leave it at that." Elizabeth stated finally giving in.

Rodney turned back to his work with glee in his eyes.

Elizabeth was just about to leave when she noticed Sergeant Davies working with Radek. _What on earth is he doing here?_

"Sergeant" The marine looked up at the base commander.

"Yes Maam." She would never be comfortable being called that.

"Major Lorne was looking for you earlier, I don't know why he didn't think to look for you in here."

Rodney jumped in noticing the sarcasm in her voice, "Yes well, some people actually appreciate the work we do here."

"Yes Rodney." Elizabeth said in that condescending tone that could send shivers down your spine, that only Rodney seemed impervious to noticing.

………………

Teyla looked over at John, she really didn't want to call an end to their night but she was getting too exhausted to think straight.

"Would you like some more to drink?" Teyla asked trying not to slur her words.

"Oh no, no, no" John replied as his hand slipped off the edge of the table "…think I've had too much of that already."

Teyla was surprised, John had only had a couple of glasses and she knew he could handle his drink.

"Don't know what you put in that stuff but it's making me really sleepy." John yawned out.

Teyla stood up but immediately regretted it as she collapsed to the floor.

John was by her side as fast as his reactions would allow.

"I think something's wrong." He murmured as he slumped down beside her.

tbc...


	4. Chapter 4

Notes: Sorry this chapter took me a little longer, RL got in the way!

Thanks for all the reviews, very much appreciated :D

And I have no medical knowledge what so ever so I apologise for any inaccuracies

**Chapter 4**

"Hey, is this your doing?" Rodney shouted at Radek.

"Is what my doing?" Radek replied, like he was supposed to read Rodney's mind to know what he was referring to.

"The environmental controls, they're releasing too much carbon monoxide." Rodney said starting to panic.

"No, no, nothing to do with me!" Why would he do a thing like that?

"I don't know why the system is only just alerting us, the levels are reaching lethal amounts!" Rodney jumped up from his seat but still staring at the screen.

"Where is it?" Radek asked quickly trying to jump-start Rodney into action; someone could be in danger.

"Hold on…erm…Teyla's quarters!" That finally got through Rodney's shocked state and he clicked his comm.

"Major Lorne, get to Teyla's quarters immediately."

……………………

John gently cracked an eye open, as much as his heavy lids would allow. His whole body felt like it was made of lead and tied to the floor by an anchor.

"Huh…Teyla?" He turned his head to see Teyla leaning against his legs.

"uh" Recognition starting to creep in "No…carb… mon…oxide" John breathed out, he had to get them out of there right away. With every last inch of strength he groggily got himself up onto his knees. He leaned over Teyla and rolled her onto his arm. Placing his other arm under her delicate knees he cradled her and pushed up on his shaky legs. He fought against the need to just lie down and sleep as he punishingly made towards the door. He couldn't fully stand and stumbled constantly but he couldn't let go, he had to keep hold of her, he had to get them both to safety.

All he had to do was get Teyla to that door, just a few more steps. He would not let himself give into the fatigue that tore at every fibre in his body. His muscles burned with lactic acid and his injured foot seared with pain from the weight upon it. He gasped at the air but it did no good, he wasn't receiving enough oxygen for his body and mind to function.

He was so close when his knees finally buckled and his eyelids slid closed.

"No!" He said through gritted teeth, stubborn to the last and he crawled pushing Teyla along until he reached the crystal, fumbling his hand into the air, and opened the door. Pushing Teyla as far out as he could before succumbing to the blackness.

……………………

Lorne grabbed the nearest marine and ran full pelt down the corridor towards Teyla's quarters.

"I can see her!" He exclaimed, heart pounding in his chest. "She got out."

"Doc, you on the way?" He asked through his comm.

"_Right behind you, son." _Beckett replied keeping his voice calm. It was an invaluable tool for a doctor, especially when dealing with loved ones, if he remained calm and collected then so would they no matter how panicked he really was on the inside.

Lorne skidded to a halt, kneeling down next to Teyla's limp form. It wasn't until he was checking her pulse that he noticed a third arm coming out from under her waist.

"Oh no!" he breathed staring at the unconscious body of his CO.

"Simmerson, get Teyla to the doc, I'll get Colonel Sheppard." He took a brief moment to compose himself before clicking his comm. "Doc, the Colonel's here too, just inside the doorway." He informed Carson as Simmerson picked up Teyla's slight form.

………………

"Get him out of there now!" Carson shouted as he rounded the corner to see Corporal Simmerson carrying Teyla in his arms.

"Cassie," he said to the nurse who had accompanied him "go back with the Corporal, put Teyla on 100 oxygen and then get blood work." He didn't wait for a reply, knowing his team could handle it themselves.

Lorne had dragged Sheppard out of the room and was checking his pulse when he noticed the Colonel's right leg start twitching. _Why does this always happen to Sheppard, he must have the worst look in two galaxy's._

"He's seizing doc!" Came Lorne's panicked response, looking towards Carson for answers.

"Put your jacket under his head and hold his shoulders down, we don't want him causing himself anymore harm now do we." Carson said as he bent down to hold Sheppard's legs still.

"This is not good, doc." Lorne said, half asking, half stating a fact.

"No, it's not, but at least it's a symptom of the poisoning and not something else entirely cos then we would be screwed to hell and high water." Carson said as he felt the Colonel's limbs begin to calm down.

"Can you lift him, son?" Carson asked as he stood up.

"Sure thing doc." Lorne said moving into action.

………………

They entered the infirmary to see Teyla already set up with the oxygen mask.

Lorne gently lowered the Colonel onto the bed next to her. As soon as he let go there was a swarm of activity as Carson and the nurses started putting all sorts of wires into his CO and the all-important oxygen mask. All Lorne could do was stand there and watch, dumfounded and in awe of the medical teams ability to concentrate when working on someone that means so much to so many people. The Colonel was not just an excellent CO; he was one hell of a soldier and a good friend. He couldn't believe that after all that the people of Atlantis had gone through it might be an environmental controls' malfunction that takes away their military leader.

When Lorne jumped back to awareness he realised that he was stood alone with the two patients. Looking around for Doctor Beckett he spotted him reading through some paperwork.

"Doc, what's going to happen now?" Carson opened his mouth to reply but the entrance of a certain scientist drowned out any sound he made.

"Carson!" Rodney shouted, closely followed by Ronon and Dr Weir who let out an "Oh God" as she spied the hospital beds containing her second in command and the Athosian leader.

"Sheppard was there too." Rodney asked in confusion as his concern momentarily gave way to curiosity.

"They were having dinner Rodney." Elizabeth reprimanded. "Carson?" She questioned, knowing that a full sentence wasn't required, what else could they be interested in knowing?

"As I was just going to say to the Major here… I've got them on 100 oxygen and that's all I can do until the levels of Carbon Monoxide go down in their systems."

"How long will that take?" Rodney jumped in.

"A few hours, more than likely." Carson answered as he walked between the two beds. "I've just looked through Teyla's blood work and the levels are very high, the Colonel's are probably going to be even higher as he was still in the room when we reached him."

"What! Why was Teyla out and he wasn't." Rodney exclaimed.

"I think he'd managed to push her out before passing out himself." Lorne answered that one.

"Oh! Trust Sheppard to be the hero and save the girl without considering himself." Rodney raised and dropped his hands in exacerbation.

"I'm sure he did everything he could to get them both to safety Rodney." Elizabeth told him.

"Good thing he did." Ronon's growled at Rodney making him cower.

"Carson," Elizabeth said, "What are we looking at, can they get through this?" Elizabeth asked the question that was on all their minds.

"We have to keep monitoring their blood work, making sure that the oxygen levels are rising and the carbon monoxide is decreasing"

"What if they don't?" Rodney asked, he could really do with John being conscious even if it's just to keep his pessimism under wraps.

"If this doesn't work there is something else we could try, its called a hyperbaric pressure chamber… but I don't think it will come to that."

"What about longer lasting symptoms? I heard that carbon monoxide poisoning could cause memory loss." Elizabeth felt the glare of Rodney McKay; he never could stand it when somebody knew something he didn't.

"Aye, that's one of the possible symptoms, there are others I'm afraid." Carson faltered as Ronon folded his arms, its not like it was his fault there were other symptoms. "As the major and I have already seen, seizures are possible…"

"What! Why am I only finding out about this now and who was it?" Rodney demanded, almost hyperventilating.

"It was the Colonel, Rodney, and what could you have done about it anyway?" Carson replied to Rodney's accusation.

"Humph, course it was." Rodney narrowed his eyes and pouted his lips.

"What else?" Ronon grunted getting the conversation back on track.

"The two I've already mentioned are the more extreme symptoms but there could also be nausea, dizziness, shortness of breath for a while."

"Can we sit with them?" Elizabeth enquired.

"Aye, as long as there's nothing else you need to be doing."

All three made their way over to sit by their fallen comrades.

…………………

"Carson, any news?" Elizabeth asked quietly trying not to wake the patients. Ronon was sat, head lolling, arms crossed, feet up on another chair while Rodney was drooling onto the hospital bed by Sheppard's feet.

"Just got the latest blood works back, its as good as can be expected. There's been a steady increase in oxygen for both of them, so it's only a matter of time." Carson patted her shoulder.

"Thank you, Carson." She smiled back fondly.

Carson moved to stand over Rodney, "If we knew this was what it took to get him some sleep then the Colonel would gladly injure himself more often."

"He does that often enough without trying thank you Carson, don't go putting ideas in his head." Elizabeth scolded playfully.

…………………

Teyla was more than confused by the sounds that surrounded her. A quick clacking did not fall in tune with the rhythmic beeping closer to her ear; this was offset further by a soft growl occurring spasmodically.

She carefully opened her eyes to small slits, already introducing too much light for her delicate retinas to handle.

After giving her eyes a moment to adjust she realised the clacking was coming from a laptop at the end of her bed, behind that sat Dr. McKay.

"Rodney" She attempted to say, but it came out more like 'onay' in a low husky voice.

"huh" He looked up from his laptop at the noise, taking a second to comprehend the implications.

He sat there starring at her open eyes before setting his laptop aside and approaching the head of her bed.

"Teyla" he said softly.

"Whathappened?" She slurred.

"Wow, that voice is sexy… oh ice chips… ooh Carson…" He shook his head and shouted, "Carson!" Waking the sleeping Ronon in the process.

Ronon smiled at Teyla who now understood where the growls were coming from. "Hey."

"Rodney, there are people trying to sleep in here you know!" Carson repremanded before he noticed the conscious patient before him.

"Teyla, love, how are you feeling?" But before she could form an answer Rodney interrupted, "She needs some ice chips" he pointed out. Teyla smiled warmly at both the doctors, she knew Rodney was showing concern in his own way.

"Aye," Carson looked to his left side "the nurse is bringing some now" and he was promptly handed a tub, "thank you, dear." He said as the nurse walked away.

"Here you go." He said placing two chips to her lips.

Teyla took them into her mouth and let them sooth her dry throat.

"Thank you Carson." She said in her own clear voice. "I am feeling a little groggy and achy but other than that I am ok." She paused a moment before asking again, "What happened?"

"That's a good question." Rodney jumped in.

As Carson threw Rodney an agonising look Ronon decided to put the poor girl out of her misery, "Carbon monoxide" he said, as though that was enough to explain everything.

Teyla furrowed her brow, those words meant nothing to her but she had the feeling she'd heard them before.

"John!" She exclaimed, jumping slightly on her bed, which made her cough.

"He's right here love." Carson said indicating to the bed at her left side.

"We were having dinner." She said confused as to how they ended up in the infirmary.

"We know dear, your room was poisoned with carbon monoxide." Carson explained.

"I remember feeling tired and nauseous before I… I do not know." She said shakily still starring at the form in the other bed.

"You must have passed out but John carried you out of the room." Carson informed her.

The doors whooshed open revealing Elizabeth carrying two trays full of food. "Teyla." She said upon seeing the Athosian awake. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"She only just woke up!" Rodney said defensively.

Elizabeth placed the trays on an empty bed before approaching the bed to give Teyla's hand a squeeze.

"Hello Elizabeth" Teyla greeted.

"How is he?" Teyla asked, they all knew to whom she was referring.

"Not long behind you I'd say, don't worry, he'll be fine." Carson said reassuringly.

"How did this happen?" She asked.

"Don't know yet." Rodney said disappointed that he couldn't give an answer, "Zelenka's investigating."

Teyla's eyes began to droop, she tried to fight against it but Carson noticed the brief lapse.

"Don't worry, get some rest. I'll be back to check on you later." He smiled warmly.

Teyla opened her mouth to speak but Carson didn't give her the chance, "and we'll wake you if anything happens." He nodded knowingly towards John.

"Thank you." She managed to breath out before letting herself fall back into slumber.

TBC...


	5. Chapter 5

I know its been a very long time since I updated this :o I've actually written the next couple of chapters but got a block on this one, then went on internship, then my 21st, then christmas, then back at uni for my final semester, so it kinda got put on the back burner :s I should be slightly less busy over the next three weeks so hopefully I'll get this story back on track :)

**Chapter 5**

As John's senses came back to him he immediately knew his surroundings, _infirmary_.

His hearing felt a little fluffy but quickly came around when he recognised an irate voice.

"What do you mean you're getting nowhere?" Rodney screamed into his comm.

John fought through the blackness to open his eyes but to no avail. He was just about to give in, realising that he was quite content to stay in peace for a while longer, when he felt something collide with his foot – his still healing foot.

"Will you watch what you're bloody doing." Carson yelled.

"Well you can tell my team of so-called scientists how incompetent they are then." Rodney snapped back.

"John." Teyla seemed to be the only one who noticed that Sheppard's eyes had snapped open.

"Hey" He croaked out.

"Hmm, not so sexy on you." Rodney commented but shook his head at John's perplexed furrowed brow.

"Nice to see you too McKay." Wow, he actually wished he'd not tried to say a whole sentence when his throat felt like sandpaper.

But that wasn't the worst of his problems, his stomach clenched and his mouth filled with saliva. He turned to the side of his bed and threw up into the bedpan that was quickly thrust under his chin.

"Yeah, you look it." Rodney pointed out.

"Sorry doc." John groaned.

"Ack no, completely expected." Carson comforted as he disposed of the bedpan. "Take a few moments to compose yourself laddie, I need to let a few people know that sleeping beauty has awoken."

John pulled a face back at Carson; it was about as much of a response as he could muster at the moment. He looked over at Teyla relieved to see her smiling and awake. If he never moved again, which was a high possibility in John's mind given how he was feeling, then it would have all been worth it just to see that she was OK.

"I hear I have a thank you to make." Teyla said softly.

John tried to wave his hand in indifference but only managed to raise it a couple of centimetres off his bed sheets.

"Hey I told you before, don't go thinking your special. I'd have done it for anyone." _Mostly_, he thought as he lazily attempted to wink.

"I know you would have John," his first name always sounded more elegant when pronounced by the Athosian, "But I am still grateful."

"Don't mention it," John paused in an attempt to stop the slurring of his words, "I'm just glad your OK." He smiled back.

"Huh" Rodney snorted reminding the two patients that they were not alone. "Just remember to take a bit more care of yourself next time… not that I want there to be a next time." He clarified sheepishly.

John was prevented from any snide response when Carson re-entered the room. "Elizabeth's on her way down and Ronon…" the doors whooshed open "is here now." Carson explained.

"Hey" Ronon said.

"Hey" John replied.

"Wow, eloquent." Rodney said not quite under his breath but regretted it at seeing the glares he was receiving from the two men in question.

"How you feeling, son." Carson asked while checking John's blood pressure.

"Just peachy, doc." John was rocked by a fitful of heavy coughs, his chest burning out through his ribs.

"I think that answers enough." Carson said as he rubbed John's back trying to sooth his patient.

John groaned as he settled back against his pillow, still feeling the after burn of his coughing fit in his chest. To be truthful, he felt like he'd just climbed a pyramid with Ronon strapped to his back, exhausted and aching both physically and mentally.

"How long?" He breathed out.

"Bout 36 hours, lad, and you'll be staying here for while longer."

"Great" John groaned.

"Carson?" Elizabeth sounded through the radio.

"Yes, Elizabeth." He indicated towards his earpiece to let the others know he wasn't just talking to himself.

"Can you put me on to John?" He took off his comm. and placed it over John's ear. "She wants to talk to you."

"Hey Liz'beth." He said into the small microphone.

"John," she said soothingly, "It's good to hear your voice."

"Sure it is." He said trying to hold back a cough.

"I'll be down to see you as soon as I can, I've got a few things to sort out here…nothing for you to worry about." She added on before getting the inevitable question of if he could help.

"Hmn" John grunted in indignation.

"He's not goin anywhere, I've already told him that." Carson informed her.

"Good," Elizabeth said thoughtfully, "I'll see you first chance I get."

"Looking forward to it…" John yawned out.

"Time for you to get some rest son." Carson said as he retrieved his comm.

"All I've been doing is resting." John said, using all his strength to glare meaningfully at the doctor. But it wasn't long before he gave in and slipped back off to sleep.

…………………

When he next awoke it was to the sound of shuffling and groaning.

He opened his eyes out of curiosity, to see Elizabeth helping Teyla into a wheelchair. He watched as the two women managed to manoeuvre themselves without too much difficulty.

He must have spaced out for a few seconds as the next thing he knew Elizabeth was starring down at him.

"Hello." She said playfully.

He smiled raising the right hand corner of his mouth. "Hey… everything sorted?"

"Yes," she said not giving away anything other than that, "well at least we know your memory hasn't been affected."

"Huh" He responded, still groggy from his latest snooze fest.

"Never mind, I was just taking Teyla out for a walk."

"Yeah, can I…"

"No you cannot go!" Carson shouted from somewhere else in the infirmary.

Teyla stifled a grin, "If you wish to talk we can go later." She offered.

"Noooo." John said adamantly. "I know what its like cooped up in here, you've got to take these chances while you can, Hitler over there might not let you out again."

"I can hear you." Carson responded indifferently.

"You were supposed to." John said, beaming at Teyla.

"We will not be long." Teyla said as she squeezed John's hand.

With that Elizabeth grabbed the handles on Teyla's wheelchair and pushed her out of the infirmary.

Carson finally came into John's peripheral vision as he approached the bed.

"How are you feeling now, any better than before?" He asked.

"Much thanks, not gonna throw up on you if that's what you're asking."

"Well, its good to know." Carson contemplated.

…………………

After a few hours Sheppard decided he was thoroughly bored of starring at the ceiling and wanted to test out his muscles by getting out of bed.

Teyla had returned about twenty minutes after she had left but didn't last long before the exhaustion over took her and she fell back to sleep.

John had gotten that bored that he even started reciting Pi to as many numbers as he could remember. Back at school, in the advanced math class they had a competition to see who could remember Pi to the longest decimal place. He'd got to about 30 before losing his path, which he thought, was pretty good until a classmate recited it to over 100 places! So far he'd got 3.1415923564 but gave up when he realised that if Rodney new what he was doing he'd never hear the end of it.

So he found himself looking around to make sure there weren't any busybody Scottish doctors in the near vicinity before pushing aside his bed covers. He gingerly lifted his legs over the side and shuffled to the edge so that his bare feet were planted firmly on the floor. Using the bed to steady himself he pushed off so that he was standing upright.

He paused for a few seconds, beaming with pride. He took one step forward and decided that was enough adventure for one day, he'd achieved more than expected. Still there was a niggle in the back of mind pushing him to carry on. He thought better of it and slowly moved back to the bed.

"You are not supposed to be doing that." Teyla almost shocked the life out of him.

He whipped his head around too fast sending his vision dizzy for a second.

"Shh, I'm getting back into bed now, there's no need to alert anyone." He whispered as he pulled the covers back over his legs.

"Are you OK? Teyla asked sincerely.

"Yeah, better than I expected actually." Feeling that his experiment had been vindicated.

"I agree, my strength is slowly returning, I can no longer feel the exhaustion in my muscles while resting."

"I'm getting there." He said smiling back at her.

"So how are my two favourite patients doing?" Carson asked as he approached their beds.

"Good, thanks." John answered immediately.

"I am feeling much better thank you Carson." Teyla replied warmly.

"How long till we're outta here?" John asked, he thought he'd left it a reasonable amount of time before asking.

Carson rolled his eyes but answered truthfully, "Not too long, at least another 24 hours though."

John groaned, even though it wasn't as long as he'd feared.

"Thank you Carson, that is good news." Teyla spoke for the both of them.

"Ah, fed up of him already?" McKay teases as he walked towards their beds.

"Not at all Rodney." Teyla responded even though she knew he was only trying to annoy Sheppard.

"Hey, we've been asleep most of the time." John couldn't resist responding to Rodney's attempt at winding him up.

"Yes and they need to get some more, especially the Colonel after his little trip." Carson glared at Sheppard letting him know without doubt that he knew what Sheppard had just done.

"Fine, whatever, its you I wanted anyway." McKay said to Carsen.

John kept quiet as the two men walked away, still dumb struck as to how Carson could possibly have known.

_Huh, maybe Rodney's right about all that voodoo magic._

…………………

Sergeant Davies was looking over Dr Zelenka's shoulder as he went through the environmental controls for a fifth time. "I just can't see what went wrong!!" The Cezch doctor exclaimed before going off on a tirade in his native language. Davies couldn't understand a word but he got the gist of the doc's frustration.

"Calm down doc." Davies said. "I'm sure you'll find what went wrong, whatever the problem was it seems to have corrected itself now so there's no danger to live anymore." The Sergeant patted Zelenka on the back.

"I know." Zelenka said, taking off his glasses and leading his forehead on the back of his hand. "That is good but it is also worrying, I just can't see how this could have happened, these controls are far more advanced than anything we have on earth, there is just no reason why they should malfunction like this… Which leads to the only other explanation." He said as he put his glasses back in place.

"What other explanation?" Davies asked.

"That the controls were tamped with. But who could have done that and why?" Zelenka concentrated back on his screen.

"I'm sure that's not the case doc, like you said, who had the knowhow and why would they target the Colonel." Davies said as he stood. "I better get off doc." He stalked out of the lab.

Zelenka pondered for a moment, _why would he assume that the Colonel was the target, especially when they were in Teyla's quarters?_

………………………

Carson had finally given John and Teyla permission to leave the infirmary, but only on the condition that they rested in their quarters for the next couple of days. They'd both agreed immediately, John longed to stare at some different walls and he was quite looking forward to getting the chance to watch some of the new DVD's that the Daedalous brought over on its latest trip.

Ronon brought around a wheelchair to transport him but one look told the Satadan not to bother.

"John," Teyla said calmly, "if Carson wants you to still use the wheelchair then maybe you should."

"Nah," he waved off her concerns, "I never needed it in the first place, I can walk fine." He said as he stood up and took a couple of steps just to prove his point.

"If that is the way you feel." Teyla nodded her understanding. Carson had already let her have a wander around the infirmary minus the wheelchair to see how she coped, she knew how much it had grated on John that he was still that small amount weaker than her.

"Ready?" Ronon asked.

Both John and Teyla nodded as enthusiastically as their tired bodies would allow.

Carson approached, giving John a glare at seeing him standing but left it at that. "Complete bed rest for both you, and any problems call me straight away."

"Yes doc." John said sincerely.

"Thank you Carson." Teyla said as she gave the doctor's arm a light squeeze.

The trio walked out of the infirmary and slowly made their way down the corridor. John was feeling light headed but felt he was coping with the movement well. His mind drifted off to thinking about the city and any incidents he might have missed while being in the infirmary, Lorne and Elizabeth had been updating him but he knew they were only keeping it to the light details. He was just considering one of Lorne's comments when his shoulder collided with the corridor wall.

"Woah." Ronon was immediately behind him holding him up. John shook his head and looked around, Teyla was watching him with concern. She stepped over to him and gently held his elbow, "Are you ok John?" She asked.

"Yeah." He said as he pushed off from the wall. "Just got distracted with my thoughts." He could feel Ronon's smirk at that.

Teyla's hand remained on his elbow and Ronon right behind him as they proceeded to their destination.

tbc...


	6. Chapter 6

John laid on his bed as he stared at his ceiling, bored out of his brain, three days of nothing could make resting seem more stressful than stress. Elizabeth had refused to give him some reports to read through, she said it was on Carson's advice but he wasn't convinced. McKay and Ronon had come by occasionally but they had other things to do, especially with him and Teyla out of action.

He was just about to try and go to sleep for the one-millionth time today when his door chimed. He quickly sat up in bed and gave them permission to enter. McKay came bustling in holding several bags of chips and popcorn, mumblings something about choice between bad films or bad films.

"McKay?" John asked half-heartedly.

"What?" Rodney asked looking perplexed as he opened a bag of chips. "Ronon and Teyla are on their way." Rodney scrunched up his mouth as he noticed that Sheppard still didn't seem to comprehend anything. "Did they not tell you we were coming?"

"Do I look like a man in the know?" John asked quirking up the edge of his mouth.

"You always know everything… and well, you never look like a man in the know." Rodney, with a half cheeky smirk and half reserved as if he was afraid of offending. He should know by know that Sheppard could easily recognise when he should and shouldn't be offended by his friend.

Teyla and Ronon arrived with a handful of DVD's. Ronon dropped them onto Sheppard's bed, "Choice is yours," he grunted.

John looked over at Teyla as she gently sat herself on the end of his bed.

"You got permission to be up and around?" He asked her.

"Yes," she said, turning towards him, "I went to see Carson earlier."

She turned back to take a bag of popcorn from McKay as John grumpily looked down to study his DVD options.

"He said you could go see him tomorrow." She said as she opened the bag.

"Really?" He asked, trying to stop the big smile tugging at his lips.

"Yes." She said with a twinkle in her eyes. John let the smile over take his mouth but choked it back when he realised everyone was looking at him.

"This one" He said, passing her a DVD, noticing that Ronon was still chuckling at him.

They watched the DVD and John was glad of the company, he sometimes wondered what his life would be like if he hadn't gone on this mission to another Galaxy, but life without his team was just unthinkable to him.

………………………

John walked up to the Jumper where his team were ready and waiting. Trust his first mission back to be one of Rodney's technology witch-hunts. Why Elizabeth gave him permission for this so easily was beyond him, she usually put up more of a fight. He nodded to both Ronon and Teyla but was completely ignored by Rodney, who was already sat in the jumper, eager to go.

Elizabeth slowing walked up behind the Colonel. "Are you sure you're up to this Colonel?" She asked.

"Yup." He replied as he clipped his P90 to his vest. He could sense the eyebrow as it rose on her delicate brow.

"Carson cleared me for duty two days ago, Elizabeth, I'm good." He gestured towards Teyla, "We both are." He reassured.

"I know", Elizabeth conceded, "I'm just surprised that Rodney managed to persuade you to go back to this planet as your first mission back."

"What?" John asked, "What do mean persuaded? He said you scheduled this mission before I was in the infirmary!"

Elizabeth pursed her lips and frowned.

"McKay!" Sheppard shouted.

……………………

The jumper cloaked as soon as it rematerialised from the stargate's wormhole.

Sheppard headed in the direction of the city per Rodney's instructions for the location of the energy spike.

"Just shut up and fly where I tell you to!" Rodney ordered.

"You're telling _me _to shut up?" John questioned in disbelief, "And I'm flying where the _HUD_ tells me too." John glared at Rodney.

Rodney was about to snipe back when he noticed Teyla was staring at something through the front window.

"What is it?" He enquired so fast it was almost inaudible.

"I saw a flash of light, like one of your fireworks. It was probably nothing." She reasoned.

"Where did it come from?" Sheppard asked.

"I believe it came from the town." Teyla answered as she stood and put a hand on Sheppard's shoulder.

"Well, we can't do much about it. We're not going anywhere near that town." Sheppard stressed, throwing an accusing glare at McKay who pretended he hadn't noticed.

The light scorched passed the front window. "That's no firework," Sheppard drawled as he swiftly manoeuvred the jumper.

"That's a drone!" Rodney squeaked.

"I notice…." John was cut off as the back of the jumper rocked violently, throwing Teyla back into her chair.

Sheppard lurched to the side but quickly regained his composure, trying to get a handle on the damaged jumper. "What the _hell _is going on McKay?" He demanded.

"I don't know." Rodney replied as he picked his tablet up off the floor. "Where did they get a drone from?"

"And why didn't the HUD pick it up?" Sheppard pointed out as Rodney frantically started pushing buttons.

"I can't keep us in the air," Sheppard said, "are you two strapped in back there?" He asked, still concentrating on his controls.

"Fine." Ronon answered.

"We are both attached to our chair's John." Teyla expanded.

"Good, this could be a bumpy landing." Sheppard wrinkled his nose and scrunched his eyes. "I'm gonna take us down to that clearing in the woods."

His other team members looked out to see a small gap in the dense forest next to the town.

"You're seriously gonna land there?! But it's tiny!" Rodney screeched.

"Big enough for a Jumper, I'll make it." Sheppard said, staying calm.

Silence lingered over the jumper as it headed towards the trees.

A spark went off at the front of John's console, "What the hell?" He exclaimed.

"It must have been damaged when the drone hit." Rodney justified.

John threw a pensive glare at McKay before his console exploded in front of him.

…………………………

Teyla awoke, coughing through the smoke. She tried opening her eyes but the smoke stung them sharply.

She crouched as low as she could and felt around on the floor. She could feel something wet and sticky, she didn't need to be able to see to know that it was blood, but where was it coming from?

She tried moving but a wave of dizziness swept through her, she fell back to her original position and cleared her head, deciding to try and open her eyes again.

She squinted and concentrated through the smoke, she could make out a lump moving gingerly, in front of her to her right.

"Rodney?" She croaked out.

"Teyla? You all right? I can't see a thing!" He replied.

"Are your eyes open Rodney?" Teyla asked genuinely.

"No, they hurt too much." Teyla could tell that Rodney was struggling to stay calm.

"Get as low to the floor as you can, the smoke is less dense." Teyla informed him.

"See, I know that! I must have hit my head." Rodney whined.

"It is all right Rodney, it is understandable that you are disorientated." Teyla reassured him before she was distracted by a low, guttural groan to her right.

"Ronon? Are you ok?" She asked.

"Hunh" Ronon grunted and immediately tried to stand up. He toppled forward into his chair, gravity pulling him forward to the front of the jumper.

It was this that made Teyla realise that the jumper was slightly tilted, the hatch end up in the air.

"What the…?" Ronon asked, dazed.

The smoke was becoming easier to see through.

"Rodney, can you see John?" She couldn't see around her own chair to try to look for herself.

"Erm… no, I don't think so, there's something sticking through the front window in the way."

"Stay where you are Rodney," she said as she heard him shuffling around, "I will try to see myself." But before she could move she felt a strong hand on her shoulder.

"You're not going anywhere." Ronon said looking down at the floor.

Teyla followed his gaze and saw the blood she discovered earlier. It was trickling slowly out from a wound in her leg. She looked back at Ronon wide eyed, she couldn't feel any pain.

"You've almost cut off your circulation." Ronon informed her.

Teyla nodded, realising that the way she had been sat on the floor had trapped her leg beneath her.

"Rodney, are you hurt." Ronon asked.

"Um, bump to the head and a sprained wrist, it might be broken." Rodney responded quickly.

"Look for Sheppard then." Ronon ordered.

"But she told me to stay put." Rodney whined.

"I need to tend to Teyla, someone needs to find Sheppard. You're the only one left."

"Uh," Rodney muttered before realisation of their true predicament sunk in, "yeah, Sheppard, I'll find him."

Ronon turned his attention back to Teyla.

"I'm going to lift you and move your leg, ok?" Teyla nodded in response.

After extracting her leg Ronon ripped the lower part of his shirt and tied it tightly around the wound.

"Thank you." Teyla whispered and Ronon smiled back at her.

"Sheppard!" Rodney shouted. "Oh God." He muttered under his breath.

"What is it?" Teyla asked, suddenly more panicked that at any moment since the accident.

"Um…" Rodney said, quivering.

"Pick me up." Teyla ordered Ronon who was already reaching under her legs. The visibility had lifted enough for them to see Rodney's back.

"Wait." Rodney exclaimed. "Open the hatch, it'll help clear the smoke."

Ronon pressed his palm to the button and watched to see the hatch start to open before making his way over to Rodney.

Ronon carefully carried Teyla over the loose debris in the jumper. He could now see out the front of the window to see that the jumper had crashed into several trees. A long branch had smashed through the window and extended into the jumper. He followed the line of the branch until is reached behind Rodney's fidgeting form.

Rodney moved out of the way to reveal the end of the branch impaled into the right lower gut of Sheppard.

"I can't wake him." Rodney panicked. "I felt some blood from his head too."

Teyla's breath hitched in her throat as she caught sight of John who was leant against the side of the jumper. The front of his vest burnt from the blast, his head lolling to one side with a trickle of blood running out from his dishevelled hair, blood slowly seeping from the wound in his side onto the floor.

"John." She called but received no response. She tried to climb down from Ronon's arms but the big Satedan sensed her movement and gently lowered her to the floor.

She shuffled over as close as she could get and checked John's pulse.

"I'd done that already." Rodney pointed out. She thought he would have but she needed the reassurance herself.

She placed her hand on John's chin and gently tried to rouse him, he murmured in response but didn't regain consciousness.

"Rodney," she said looking over her shoulder, "take your jacket off."

Rodney immediately complied.

Teyla took the jacket and softly wrapped it around the branch at the point that it breached John's skin. Gently increasing the pressure of her touch to stench the flow of blood without hurting John further.

John whimpered again. Teyla leant in close and whispered, "John?"

His eyes fluttered open but quickly returned to their original position.

"We need to get him out of here." Ronon said moving towards the branch.

"No, no, we haven't got the right equipment, let alone the medical skills to get him to the gate alive. There's no MD's here, a doctor yes but no MD's." Rodney tried to halt him.

"I'll pull it out and then run for the gate." Ronon said, shrugging Rodney off his arm.

"Oh come on! For one we don't know how to get to the gate from here yet and you'd have to run through the town. They're not just going to step aside, let you through and cheer you on your way!" Rodney got more and more agitated.

"What can we do? We need to get that out of him." Ronon said, pointing at the large branch.

"No." Teyla said softly. "It needs to stay in, at the moment it is the only thing preventing him from bleeding out."

"That's what I've been trying to say." Rodney shuffled and adverted his eyes, pouting.

"Well it's not _what _you said." Ronon glared at Rodney. "What are we going to do then?" He asked Teyla.

"You need to get back to the gate… -" She said.

"- Through the town!" Rodney shrieked, interrupting her.

"Yes, Rodney, there is no other way." She stressed, tears brimming in her eyes. "Ronon can get you through the town undetected," she looked towards the big Satedan who nodded firmly back, "we need another jumper and Carson, we can't get him out alive without a doctor."

Rodney nodded slowly, contemplating his task ahead.

"What about you?" He asked.

Teyla looked down at her leg and back up at John, "I would only be a liability through the town. I will stay here and try to keep the bleeding down and get him conscious."

"Go." She told them.

TBC…


End file.
